Switching Teams
by foodgoodmovebad
Summary: So the rookie 9 and Gai's team have to switch teams and complete separate missions. Not sure where it's going yet. Pairings: Naruhina SasuTem LeeSaku NejiTen ShikaIno. RxR plz!
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, this is my first fanfic! Please read and review!**

**I'm not sure where the story's going yet, but pairings: NaruHina, SasuTem (ever heard of it?), ShikaIno, LeeSaku, NejiTen, maybe KakaTsu (again, ever heard of it?)**

**Enjoy!**

"Hmm," Kakashi thought, his nose buried in his beloved book. He was standing on the meeting place of team 7, wondering what would happen when his team heard his announcement. He smirked slightly when he thought of the surprise awaiting his only female student. Not looking up from his book, he said, "Sorry I'm late again, I got lost on—,"

"LIAR!" Sakura, the pink-haired kunoichi, and Naruto, the hyperactive blonde Kyubbi container, shouted at him, interrupting yet another wonderful excuse.

"Hmm…" Kakashi mused. "I should really write a book full of excuses…maybe I'll get tips from Jiraiya later."

"Kakashi," the cold voice of his Uchiha avenger interrupted his thoughts. "Why did you call us here? I could be training…" Kakashi finally looked up from his book. Sasuke's face was devoid of emotion as usual. Sakura squealed.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke kun's right!" she immediately agreed.

Inner Sakura: OMG SASUKE KUN IS SO COOL!

Sakura: You betcha! That's why I love him so much!

Kakashi sighed. He hated to be parted from his perverted book, especially at such a deliciously perverted part…but what had to be done, had to be done. He looked up.

Inner Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke: Did Kakashi-sensei just…STOP READING HIS PERVERTED BOOK?!?!?!?!

"Ok, ok, a few more moments of ignorance won't hurt you…anyway, Tsunade wants all of the "rookie 9" plus Gai's team to switch teams. As in, you're getting mixed up again."

"What?!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

Inner Sakura: NOOO!!! I might be separated from Sasuke!!!!!!!

Inner Naruto: I have to be with Sakura…and not with the bushy eyebrow freak!

Inner Sasuke: …What's the big deal? At least I won't have to work with these idiots anymore…maybe I'll be able to team up with Neji…

"But…Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura started.

"There's no point in arguing, Tsunade's already decided. She wants you guys in her office pronto. Unfortunately, I have to go with you, and I can't be late…that monstrous strength of hers is scary…"

Team 7 stared at him. Did they just imagine it, or did a faint blush cross Kakashi's face when he spoke of Tsunade?

Inner Sakura: NO WAY! DOES KAKASHI-SENSEI LIKE THE GONDAIME??

Naruto, as untactful as ever, decided to ask the question.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, are you reading that book to try and impress Granny Tsuna—," Kakashi decided at that moment that it would be prudent to knock Naruto out.

Inner Sakura: gasp It's true!

Kakashi was once again cool, calm and collected. "Let's hurry to make up for lost time."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes bugged out. Kakashi? HURRY?

"He must really like the Hokage," they thought, using chakra to get to the fifth's office faster. (Naruto was being carried by Kakashi, and not too gently either. He woke up as they got to the door of her office.)

When Team 7 walked in, they saw that everyone else was already there.

"Kakashi! My long time rival! I was just telling my students about that time I beat you in running 20 miles in our youth!" Kakashi didn't glance up from his book.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Gai sweatdropped.

"I have such a cool rival! Only Kakashi would be worthy of that! Come on Kakashi! What do you say, 200 times around Konoha on our fingertips and see who finishes first! The score is still 49-50!"

"Eh, you win," Kakashi said lazily.

"Yeah! The spring of youth prevails again!" Gai jumped over to Lee to discuss exactly how the spring of youth had helped him win, Lee eagerly joining the conversation. Tsunade was watching this with amusement, before finally deciding to tell everyone what they had been waiting for.

"Ok, Kurenai, your team will be…

Naruto, Hinata, and Neji!

Inner Hinata: I-I'm…with N-naruto!

Inner Neji: I-I'm with…Hinata-sama?

Naruto exploded.

"Yes! Ha, Sasuke-teme, who's with the prodigy?!"

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke growled. Sakura punched Naruto, sending him flying.

"DON'T CALL SASUKE-KUN TEME!"

"Sasuke-kun?! Only I, Ino, can call Sasuke-kun that, billboard brow!"

Sakura was about to retort angrily when she remembered Ino and her old friendship.

_**Flashback:**_

"_Hey, aren't you that girl that everyone teases because you have a big forehead? Is that why you grew your bangs to cover it?" Sakura nodded timidly. "Well, you shouldn't try to cover it, it looks like a sheepdog. The more you try to cover it, the more obvious it'll be! Here, tie it back with this ribbon." Ino handed Sakura a red ribbon._

"_Hey, Ino? If you're a cosmos flower…then, what am I? Am I just a weed?"_

_Ino blinked and studied Sakura's sad posture. "No, I think that you're a bud, still waiting to bloom into a beautiful flower!" Sakura smiled timidly. "Thanks Ino!"_

"_Ino…is it true? Do you like Sasuke too?" Ino gasped. "It's true then? I guess we're rivals then!" Sakura turned her back on her first friend, secretly hiding tears at the loss of her friendship._

_The Chunin exams resulted in Sakura fighting Ino. When they both gained conciousness, Ino handed Sakura her head protecter. "You finally got that bud to bloom into a beautiful flower!" Sakura smiled gratefully. "But I'm not going to lose to you again, forehead girl!" "Pig!"_

_**End Flashback**_

"Why?" Sakura whispered quietly. She turned away from Ino, but not before Ino glimpsed her eyes full of pain. "Why was I stupid enough to break up my friendship with my best and only friend over a boy?"

Her expression turned grim. "Because I didn't always want to be the one who had to be protected! Ino was the best at everything…I wanted to have people admire me too! She was so cool, cute, and nice…I just…I just can't catch up! Ino-pig is even a great ninja now, and she's twice as thin as I am. I'll never catch up to her…NO! I won't let her get Sasuke-kun. I'll fight for him!"

"Shut up, Ino-**pig**," Sakura muttered, with less viciousness than she would've liked. Ino once again saw the look of pain cross her ex-best friend's face. She felt worried, but then Tsunade slammed her fist on the desk.

"Enough!" she barked, out of temper without her sake. "Now, the next team is Kakashi's team. Your team will be Sasuke, Sakura and Ino. There's not much of a change, but I think that you know Sasuke and Sakura better than if Asuma or Gai got them…ahem!"

Inner Sakura and Ino: HECK YES! SASUKE'S ON MY TEAM!

Inner Sakura: Great…Ino's on my team.

Sakura: Ino? Not Ino-pig?

Inner Sakura: Stop trying to fool around, you don't think she's a pig!

Sakura: Well…

Inner Ino: Sakura's on my team?

Sasuke: Great…fan girls…and not just fan girls, the captains of my fan club…why?!

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Ok, Asuma's team…"

Inner Asuma: So, am I getting the slacker or the glutton back on my team?

"Shikamaru, Tenten, and Shino!" Shikamaru muttered, "How troublesome…I could be watching the clouds right now, and instead I'm listening to the Hokage announce that I have Asuma-sensei, as usual…" He yawned pointedly. Shino looked as inscrutable as always, while Tenten just looked outraged. Tsunade quickly continued. "And obviously, Gai's team will be Rock Lee, Choji, and Kiba. You're dismissed!" The Gondaime shooed them out of her office. "Whew," she sighed. "Shizune! More sake!"

As the rookies and Gai's old team filed out of her office, their sensei's whisked their new teams off to meet and introduce themselves.

Kakashi yawned and looked at his team. Sasuke was staring off into space as usual, Sakura was looking uncharacteristically sad, and Ino was glaring daggers at Sakura (not that she seemed to notice). "What a happy team…," Kakashi mused quietly. Sasuke was surprised that Sakura and Ino weren't all over him already. Speaking of Sakura…he glanced over at her. She was looking at the ground with a downcast face. "I wonder what's up with her," he thought.

Asuma glared at Shikamaru. As usual, the lazy genius was in his favorite position (lying on his back) watching the clouds. Tenten was throwing shuriken furiously hitting the dead center every time. Shino was watching his bugs crawling all over himself. "This will be interesting…" Asuma thought gloomily. At least he had the weapons' mistress on his team.

Kurenai's sharp crimson-ish eyes took in her new team. "Hinata and Neji on a team?" she thought curiously. "I wonder what Tsunade-sama was thinking." Naruto was jumping around and Hinata was watching him, blushing slightly. Neji was as fate-driven as usual, and was testing his impenetrable defense.

Gai was already prepping his team with a talk about youthfulness. Only Lee was listening, the other two were eating chips and rolling their eyes at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapter! Sry its pretty late, but stil! Dedicated to: ****Moondragon0494 for being my first and awesome reviewer! I'm hoping to get at least 5 reviews for this chapter…is it too much to hope for?**

**Thanks also to lilchibihina for reviewing! )**

"**Regular talking"**

_**thinking**_

**Kyubbi**

**--**

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. She loved playing matchmaker, but a morning without sake was too much. Yes, the main reason the devious Hokage had thought of the brilliant plan to switch the teams was to see how they would end up, of course, also testing their skills in the progress. She still wasn't too sure about Kurenai's team though, Hinata and Neji on the same team was a little risky.

"Ah well," she thought. "Doubts and thoughts and being awake have no power against my sake…," Taking out a new bottle of sake, she poured two cups. "Jiraiya! Stop lurking around and get in here!" she barked. The frog/perverted sannin hopped in through her window. Tsunade sweatdropped. "Sometimes I think that the frogs are being a bad influence for him…, anyway, what do you want pervert?" Jiraiya pretended to be insulted. "Pervert? Me? How could you say something like that to a legendary sannin like me?"

CRASH

"I can say that because, pervert, I am ALSO a sannin, if you've forgotten already! Now tell me why you came to my office before you make me demolish the rest of it!" Tsunade screamed. Jiraiya dropping in was not helping her temper at all. She drank the rest of the bottle of sake. "Shizune! More sake!" she barked. Jiraiya sat up, feeling his head gingerly.

"Ow…" he muttered. "Anyway, Tsunade, I wanted to ask you what you were up to with the teams. Are you sure that was wise?" Tsunade nodded, but did not go into further detail.

"I'm sure that you will realize why in due time. Now, I have a load of paperwork to do _and a new bottle of sake to get back to_, she added silently in her head. "SO GET OUT OF HERE!" Jiraiya was sent flying once again.

--

(A/N Kurenai's team)

"Hey, I'm getting hungry," a certain knuckleheaded blonde complained. "Kurenai-sensei, are we done training yet? I want ramen!" Kurenai sighed. They had not made much progress in training, with Naruto chucking kunai at Neji to see if he could dodge it and Hinata doing her own training. "_How do you manage to survive with Naruto on your team, Kakashi?" _she wondered hopelessly. "Fine, training over, I expect to see you guys eight o'clock sharp tomorrow for more training! I want to get a better grasp of your abilities." "_Unless being around Kakashi has made you as late as he always is, Naruto."_

"YES!" Naruto cheered, grabbing Hinata's hand. "Come on Hinata, want to get some ramen?" The pale-eyed Hyuuga blushed at the sudden contact, but smiled timidly and whispered a timid,

"I-I would l-love it, N-Naruto-kun!"

"Great! See you later Neji, Kurenai-sensei!" he called out, rushing away, with a smiling Hinata pulled along behind him.

**Ok, so that's the end of another chapter, sorry, this one was kind of short! But I promise I'll update soon with the next part. REVIEW PLEASE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**3rd chap up! Some ShikaIno fluff in here, and adding more detail. This chapter will be most of the couples getting together. Oh, and I'm not an Inobasher, she'll get nicer at the end!**

**Oh, and the disclaimer, yeah, I forgot, but you've probably already figured out I don't own Naruto!**

**Pairings: NaruHina, SasuTem (ever heard of it?), ShikaIno, LeeSaku, NejiTen, maybe KakaTsu (again, ever heard of it?)**

**I might change this to a KibaHina, I don't know. Might be too hard--I could get Kiba a random girl...and Chouji too...hmm**

"Kagemane no jutsu!" Shikamaru said, effectively trapping Shino and Tenten in a single swift move. Shikamaru smirked, making Shino and Tenten smirk also (Shino's smirk looked very out of place on his face.) Suddenly, "Tenten" and "Shino" poofed out of existence.

"What?!" Shikamaru thought, his eyes scanning his surroundings for a hint of where they were hiding. A kunai came out of no where and struck him squarely in the back.

"Ha. Got him!" Tenten thought triumphantly before glaring at the place where Shikamaru's fallen body had just disappeared. Asuma sighed. They weren't getting anywhere with all these clones, and he was tired. Besides, he had a date with Kurenai that evening and had to get ready.

"Ok, you three, practice is over! Go and do…whatever you do nowadays and be here tomorrow 8:00 sharp!" he ordered, leaving without a backwards glance. Shikamaru sighed.

"_Troublesome_," he thought, before leaving to go see what Ino was doing with her team. Not that he was interested or anything, he just wanted to see Sakura argue with her.

Ino was sweating heavily. Not only had Sakura blocked every one of her attacks, she was now coming at her with her new jutsu, and Ino was almost out of chakra.

"Darn it," she muttered under her breath. She might have to use her last resort without her old teammates there to back her up. It would be dangerous to use the Mind Transfer technique, but she didn't want Sakura to beat her in front of **her **Sasuke-kun. Never.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she said, focusing her hands in a square aimed straight at Sakura's wide forehead. Sakura smirked. _She must be really desperate to use that move, _she thought. She ducked as Ino's mind-soul came flying towards her. _Too easy,_ she thought, when she realized with a start that she couldn't move. Shikamaru smirked, lowering his head so that she could see the shadow that binded her. _NOO! _Sakura thought frantically. _This can't be--_her thoughts stopped as Ino took over her mind.

"Thank you Shika-kun!" she squealed out of Sakura's body. "I need to find Sasuke-kun so he can see how I won!" Sakura/Ino rushed over to Shikamaru, hugged him, and then Sakura slumped to the ground unconcious with Ino rushing away to her beloved "Sasuke-kun". Shikamaru sighed heavily_. "Even if I love her, I have no chance against the genius prodigy, and she wouldn't want to date someone as lazy as me anyway..." _he thought gloomily, picking up Sakura's unconcious body and slowly following Ino's path, much less excitedly than she did. He looked down at Sakura's still-shocked face.

"Maybe I should've just let you beat her," he "said" to Sakura. His thoughts were broken by Sasuke rushing away from Ino and to Sakura.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" he roared, taking Sakura from his arms and glaring at Ino. Ino and Shikamaru were startled. _"Since when has Sasuke(-kun) cared so much about Sakura?" _they wondered together. Sasuke, on the other hand, felt his heart fill with panic at the sight of a seemingly lifeless Sakura.

"_No, don't take someone else important to me away, no, please, no, Sakura,_" he thought frantically. Ino's voice broke through his thoughts.

"She's just **unconscious,** Sasuke-kun! I was trying to tell you how I beat her earlier! Since when do you care about her so much?" she demanded unhappily, seeing her rival seem to beat her. Sasuke stared down at Sakura in his arms, his brain trying to process what Ino said. _"Sakura's going to be ok...," _he thought in relief. Sakura chose that moment to come back to consciousness.

_"Where am I?"_ she wondered groggily. She slowly realized that someone was holding her up. She looked up at the face. "SASUKE-KUN?!" she shrieked, and Sasuke almost dropped her in surprise. Sakura also wondered why her heart wasn't beating like crazy since it was **her **Sasuke-kun holding her up, but it was at that moment when she realized that Sasuke was no more than a friend, even if he was a really good one. Therefore, she smiled at him calmly and said,

"Thanks for carrying me, Sasuke-kun! You can put me down now, I'm ok," smiling. Sasuke, recognizing that she no longer thought him as her one and only love, and therefore was not annoying anymore, smiled back and put her down. "_Looks like I finally lost a member of my fanclub and gained an amazing friend! Yes!" _he thought. Ino seethed with rage.

_"Sasuke-kun should **only **smile at me! Why he is smiling at forehead girl? Did she beat me?!" _Ino wondered. _"Wait...why aren't I feeling any butterflies in my stomach for Sasuke? Are my feelings really just...a competition with Sakura?" _Ino glanced over at Shikamaru. He was watching the clouds, as usual, but hadn't left. Probably looking out for her, as usual. She felt a strange surge of gratitude...and something more. _"Wow, I've been so stupid over these years. I've known Shikamaru for forever and have loved him for who knows how long...but he probably doesn't feel the same way. Still...I'm glad I'm over Sasuke-kun. Maybe Sakura and I..." _she bit her lip. Sakura might not want to be friends with her after...well, after _that._ Still, it was worth a shot. If she was going to be honest with herself, she missed Sakura. A lot.

On the other side of the field with Kakashi, Sakura watched Ino with the same thoughts running through her mind.

_Just maybe..._ they both thought.

--

Chouji and Kiba fell to the ground, exhausted. They watched as Lee and Gai still ran tirelessly around the training field, counting as they went.

"190, 191, 192, 193..." they chanted like a mantra, never stopping and sweating buckets. Chouji and Kiba felt even **more **tired just watching them, so they looked away.

"Hey Chouji -pant-, want to hang -pant- out later -pant-? Kiba asked wearily, panting with Akamaru beside him, looking adorable but completely exhausted.

"Sure Kiba! I feel kind of out of it with Ino and Shikamaru...you know, they've finally realized that they have feelings for each other!" Chouji said, not being as exhausted as Kiba as he had slowed down (way down) deliberately to do a lot less laps.

"Ok, glad we got that figured out," Kiba said, smiling and falling asleep on the grass with Akamaru beside him. Chouji decided to go since Gai probably wouldn't notice him anyway.

He left.

--

Shikamaru, sure that Ino was preoccupied enough with Sasuke, decided to leave and go to his favorite cloud watching spot. As he settled more comfortably into the chair, he sighed unhappily. The sky was gray, and no clouds peeked through. Not that he would've really seen the clouds today. No, today his mind was filled with Ino. He just couldn't get her out of his head--the way she moved, the way she smiled at him when something made her happy, the way her eyes grew dark when she was unhappy, the way her bottom lip would quiver just a bit when she was trying not to cry, the way she smelled, the way she looked at him (or the way she **didn't **look at him), and the look she always gave Sasuke which he wished that she would give him.

He sighed again. _It's not like she'll ever like a lazy genius like me, _he reasoned with himself. Out of the two hundred possibilities that could be running through Ino's head right now, "I love Shikamaru" was not one of them. At least, strategically, she wouldn't be...Shikamaru sighed. He was full of sighs today. His own logic was confusing him also.

"Shikamaru?" came a voice. _Oh no, _he thought. _Now I'm hallucinating. _Of course he was hallucinating. There was no way that Ino, out of all people, would come to his favorite spot at the time when Sasuke was eating at Ichiraku, but there was no mistaking her voice. He had never mistaken it ever since the day he fell in love with her.

_That day..._

**Kiba's kinda OCC in this, but hey, I'm not making him gay! I'm not into the yaoi kind of stuff, and yeah, plz review! I love a lot of Ino pairs, but Shikamaru is so perfect in this fanfic! Anyway, hope you guys like it--much longer than the other one!**

**REVIEW! and thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, in response to zhengman777, I know Sasuke is kinda OOC in this but I think I like him better that way... :P How about we say that Sasuke has made the awesome decision not to go Itachi-hunting, so everyone's happy! Yay! Mainly focusing on ShikaIno here, but yeah, the other pairings will get their turns!**

Previous Chapter:

--"Shikamaru?" came a voice. _Oh no, _he thought. _Now I'm hallucinating. _Of course he was hallucinating. There was no way that Ino, out of all people, would come to his favorite spot at the time when Sasuke was eating at Ichiraku, but there was no mistaking her voice. He had never mistaken it ever since the day he fell in love with her.

_That day...--_

_Flashback:_

_"Shikamaru!" seven year old Ino called. "We're playing ninjas again, you're going to be late!"_

_"Yeah, yeah, how troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered, strolling along with his hands in his pockets and eyes closed. That made Ino mad. She ran up to him and dragged him along by his hand. Shikamaru gave a start and opened his eyes. A faint blush crossed his face._

_"Wow, she's strong...," he thought as Ino's "smell" wafted towards him. "Mmm...flowers," he thought, before catching himself. "Wait a minute. What am I thinking? Ino's just my friend! I can't like her..." Even as he tried to convince himself, Ino let go of his hand._

_"Hey guys, I got Shikamaru! We can start now!" she called to the others. Shikamaru sighed. How very troublesome._

_"I don't want Choji on my team! He'll ruin everything! The team with him on it always loses."_

_"Yeah, Choji, you can't play! You'll never be a ninja!" Shikamaru frowned. They were being "plain mean". As everyone else left, he watched as seven year old Choji stopped by to help a poor little butterfly caught in a spider web._

_"He's nice..." Shikamaru thought. "I'll go follow him!"_

_And the rest, as they say, is history, except that no one noticed a pair of bright blue eyes watching the two of them..._

"Shikamaru? Earth to Shikamaru!" Ino waved a hand in front of the lazy genius's face.

"Hmm? What? How..." Shikamaru started.

"DON'T EVEN SAY TROUBLESOME!"

"...bothersome."

"SHIKAMARU!"

"Yes?" Ino sighed and raked her hand through her hair. "I want to tell you something..." she started shyly, a light blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Hmm? What is it?" Shikamaru turned and looked at her straight in the face. "_She looks really cute when she blushes," _he thought, not noticing his own blush creeping up on his face.

"I...I think I don't love Sasuke anymore. I mean, sure, he was hot and all, but he wasn't a friend, he was just someone I went after because Sakura liked him and I didn't want to lose to her, but I realized that I really like someone else who has always been there for me and is nice and kind even though he says troublesome too much, and I want to say that I love him and I--" Her eyes widened as Shikamaru cut off the rest of what she was saying by leaning over and kissing her. Feeling no reaction, Shikamaru pulled back and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Troublesome. But I think he loves you too, and I think he has for a long while." Ino squeaked. It was too much for her to handle in one day, and she was tired. As Shikamaru stood up, she snuck up behind him and hugged him with all her strength (which is a lot, because she's a ninja).

"Thank you...Shika..."

She collapsed from exhaustion, not seeing the tender and caring look pass over Shikamaru's face as he gently picked her up and carried her home.

**And there's the end of the awesome ShikaIno chapter! Yes, its lots of fluff, but its so cute! haha I love fluff! Next up, SASUTEM!**


	5. Chapter 5

**YAY SASUTEM! This will hopefully make up for the other previous short chapter--maybe I'll stick NaruHina and KakaTsu in here too!**

**REVIEW PLZ!**

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the trees. He was having a very nice reminiscing moment...

_"Sasuke." A female voice called his name. _

_"Yes?" He asked in that cool, belongs to the Uchiha's tone of voice. He turned. And he stared. And he blushed._

_It was that girl from Suna. Temari. The one with the powerful fan. The one that he had admired from afar, but had kept his distance._

_There was no need to anger Gaara._

_She stepped closer, and he couldn't resist her inviting eyes._

_And they had a nice little make out session somewhere "private". _(ok, this was originally a lot longer, but I'm not much of a person to describe make out sessions...--')

_If they went farther, nobody knows, because the bright emerald eyes that had been our witness gasped and ran away, shedding tears as she ran._

_Until she met a certain taijutsu master along the way, and did very similar things with him._

Back to the present...

He sighed, shoved his hands into his pocket, and poofed to the Hokage's tower to beg for a mission to Suna. It couldn't hurt to try. But when he got there an unexpected scene met his eyes, and he coughed while Tsuande hurriedly fixed her coat and Kakashi whipped out his Icha Icha Paradise book and tried to act like nothing had happened.

"Um, yes, Tsunade-cha--I mean Hokage-sama, I will gladly take that mission you assigned me and will see you later. Good-bye," And Kakashi poofed away, leaving a blushing Tsunade and a very interested Sasuke behind.

"So, Sasuke, what do you want? I'm a busy woman."

(Busy with Kakashi...) Sasuke thought. "Anyway, I'm requesting a mission to Suna."

"Alright, now just get out of my office!" And Tsunade pushed him out of her office and settled down with some sake to calm her nerves.

He grinned, bowed mockingly, and left. On the way back to the Uchiha Mansion, he met Sakura.

"Hey Sasuke...-kun, can I walk with you?" He smiled (yes smiled, NOT smirked) and nodded in his smooth Uchiha way.

If it was the old Sakura, she might've swooned and fainted, but this was the newly improved anti-fangirl Sakura, who was beautiful and confident in her own way.

"I'm leaving for a mission to Suna soon, so..." he trailed off, glaring at Sakura who was smirking knowingly. She hopped off suddenly, singing all the way down to the Ichiraku stand, "SASUKE LOVES TEMARI, SASUKE LOVES TEMARI," and Ino heard.

"Great." Sasuke muttered, suddenly very grateful for the mission to Suna to get away from Konoha and the blonde's big mouth. He hurried and packed, nodded to the guard at the gate, and took off at top speed.

Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Lee decided to have a get together to do things they all liked to do.

First, they stared at the clouds and played Shogi, then went to the mall (the boys simply gave the girls their wallets and stayed in the food court--they met up with Chouji and his new girlfriend, Masami eating there), then they trained, and then they went back to Sakura's house to learn how to heal a fish. After that, they had a sleepover with a movie. Just like normal people on a normal Friday, except it was a Tuesday and they were shinobi and kunoichi. That aside, they were just hanging out like normal teenagers, and they valued every moment of it because they never got to hang out like this.

Neji was currently proposing to Tenten under the moonlit sky, and she was almost crying with happiness as he slipped the beautiful opal ring onto her slender fingers that had perfect aim.

Naruto and Hinata were eating at (where else?) Ichiraku's, and Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand to show her his "special place" out by the lake.

Let's take a closer look...

"Hina-chan, come over here! Join me out on the water!" Naruto yelled cheerfully. Hinata blushed and poked her forefingers together.

"A-alright, N-naruto-kun," she walked out to the water with him.

"U-um...Naruto?" Hinata blushed even redder as she prepared herself to confess her true feelings.

"Yeah, Hina-chan?"

"I...I...lo-..."

Kiba and Shino suddenly cannonballed into the water, making a loud splash. (randomly)

"I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't quite catch what you said..." Naruto scratched the back of his head apolegetically.

"It's a-alright...,"

But the moment was lost.

**Yea I kno, filler chap mainly**

**but I wanted to update a little, since its taken me so long (sry!)**

**Read my new story too! Its called "Learn to love again"**

**Its a NaruSaku, originally a oneshot but it seems to be longer...**

**and sorry if it seems to be too much like others!**


	6. Plz Vote!

**Hey guys...sry, this isn't a chapter**

**I just don't know if I should continue this story, and gomen nasai for not updating in forever!**

**This is what would happen next...or a taste of it**

**Review and vote**

**Yes**

**or **

**No**

**to continue! Arigatou!**

**Hello adult couples! Kurenai and Asuma and Kakashi w/ Tsunade! What are these adults gonna get up to tonight???**

**Let's see, shall we?**

_Kurenai smoothed her raven colored hair back one more time._

_"Are you sure I look great? I mean, I don't want to disappoint Asuma and turn up looking like a bum, and I only spent 4 hours getting ready, and--"_

_"Kurenai, you look beautiful. You'll knock him off his feet!" Anko assured her. "Just remember, if he says the L.O.V.E. word, don't take it like I did and start laughing. I thought he was talking about lots of voracious eagles...um, yea. Don't go to me for love advice!"_

_Kurenai rolled her eyes, bid Anko farewell and poofed to the restaurant._

_Asuma was already there (Kurenai: HAWT) and smiled at her boldly._

_"Well, who's the gorgeous lady I have the pleasure to escort today?" He said, bowing. Kurenai blushed_


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I am continuing this story for the few of you who want me to! yay!**

**So enjoy!**

Kurenai smoothed her raven colored hair back one more time.

"Are you sure I look great? I mean, I don't want to disappoint Asuma and turn up looking like a bum, and I only spent 4 hours getting ready, and--"

"Kurenai, you look beautiful. You'll knock him off his feet!" Anko assured her. "Just remember, if he says the L.O.V.E. word, don't take it like I did and start laughing. I thought he was talking about lots of voracious eagles...um, yea. Don't go to me for love advice!"

Kurenai rolled her eyes, bid Anko farewell and poofed to the restaurant.

Asuma was already there (Kurenai: HAWT) and smiled at her boldly.

"Well, who's the gorgeous lady I have the pleasure to escort today?" He said, bowing. Kurenai blushed heavily but smiled in pleasure, putting her arm in his.

Walking to the 5 star restaurant, they made small talk. Asuma turned abruptly and knelt down right before they got to the front door.

"Kurenai...I love you. Will you marry me?" He opened a box with a diamond ring flashing in the light.

Kurenai screamed and kissed him. He smiled.

"I'll take that as a yes."

--

Sasuke grumbled, fighting against the desert winds. He could see the gates to Suna from a distance, but he was already weary and hurt badly. A gust of wind buffeted him, and he stumbled again, trying to find purchase in the shifting sands.

"Temari...," he muttered, before collasping on the dunes with the sand howling over him.

--

Temari paced worriedly outside of Gaara's office. She couldn't take it any longer and threw the doors open and stormed in with a very uncharacteristically distraught look on her face.

"Gaa-,"

"No, Temari, there has been no notice of anyone at the gates fitting the description of Sasuke, I'm sorry. I will go search for him after I finish this paperwork, but that's not going to happen with you bursting into the office every two minutes to check if he's here. If you're that worried about him, I release you from your duties and you can go look yourself."

"I might just do that," she muttered, slamming open the door and almost banging into the head of medical ward at Suna.

"Kazekage-sama! There's a man in the hospital severely injured from Konoha!" At the sound of Konoha, Temari was gone in an instant. The head medic stood there wondering what the strange breeze was, but quickly collected herself and stood to attention at the Kazekage's gaze.

"Get our best medics on him, immediately!"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama!"

--

_Where am I? _Sasuke wondered drowsily. He blinked, and saw blurred images. He blinked again, and his vision cleared enough to see an angel, and the white background behind her worried face.

"I'm in heaven...aren't I?" he muttered, his face twisting into a crooked smile. "Wasn't sure I'd make it here."

Temari looked at him in horror. Did the wounds do something to his head?

"Sasuke! What's wrong? Why do you think you're in heaven?" She asked worriedly. He smiled lethargically as the angel's voice came to him softly.

"Well, you're an angel...and I always imagined heaven with puffy clouds floating along...," Temari felt a blush spread across her normally hard face. _He called me an angel..._she repeated in her head.

"Sasuke, you're not dead! It's Temari!" Sasuke blinked and blushed as he thought about what he had just said.

"What happened?" he asked in a nonchalant voice, trying to make up for his blunder. Temari smirked at him and said,

"I was kinda hoping that you could answer that," As muddled pictures and images started coming back to him, he cried out in pain. Temari was over him in an instant.

"What is it? Do you want me to call a nurse? Does it hurt? Where? Are you ok? I mean, I could--," Sasuke stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Temari, I'm fine...physically," he said, tears filling his eyes (yes, REAL TEARS) as he remembered what happened on the way to Suna.

Temari leaned forward and just hugged him, and he cried on her shoulder at the loss of his two teammates, who he had gained a respect and brother-like love to.

--

"Mmmph!" Sakura groaned as she tried to work around the evil tasting and smelling gag stuffed in her mouth. Her hands were going numb, and as a medic nin, she knew that she or Ino wouldn't be able to last much longer in these conditions. She would have to do something drastic to get them out of this mess.

"Don't move." She froze at the sound of Itachi's voice, so emotionless and different from his brother's now. Sakura made the mistake of looking up into his eyes and turned away, shuddering. His eyes were the same onyx as his brother's, but how one could be so warm and one so cold was beyond Sakura's comprehension. Ino was now up and struggling out of her bonds also.

Itachi raised a knife, and Sakura glared at him in defiance. If he was going to kill her now, she wasn't going to go down begging for her life. No, she was going to go down like a true Konoha ninja! She raised her head angrily.

Itachi reached down and ripped the gag out of her mouth. She questioned his actions with her eyes, and Itachi chuckled, the sound sending shivers up Sakura's spine.

"It's so I can hear you scream for mercy like the poor weakling that you are, when the knife comes closer and closer to your white neck, and the first drop of red dots the expanse, so that--,"

"Yeah yeah, just get on with it already, will you?" Sakura snapped, already working out her plan with Ino, communicating by eye language. Itachi turned to fully face Sakura as Ino slowly forced her hands into the familiar rectangle.

"Your eyes...Sakura dear, they intrigue me so. You are horrible at concealing your feelings...each one is written across those emerald orbs so clearly it's like spelling out how you feel. Hasn't anyone ever told you that a ninja should never let emotions get in the way of their path?"

"SHUT UP!" Sakura blazed, anger showing clearing in the depths of her eyes. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BEING A NINJA, YOU'RE TOO PATHETIC! AND I BET YOUR BOSS WILL GET YOU WHEN WE ESCAPE!"

A low chuckle escaped from Itachi's lips.

"You think that--," Ino's body crumpled to the floor as she took over his body.

"Here's the key," Ino/Itachi said, handing Sakura the key to the door. Grabbing Ino's body, she unlocked the door and gave Ino the signal to come back. Once they were both safely outside of the cell, they poofed away. The cell had taken away their chakra, but it rushed back with such force it was almost exhilarating.

"High-five!" Sakura chirped, slapping Ino's hand. They made their escape back to Konoha as quickly as they could after Sakura healed them both.

Itachi stared at the empty cells.

"How intriguing...,"

**Alright! That's all for this chapter!**

**Hope you liked it...**

**and as always, review please!!**


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